Researchers at Swansea University have made an intriguing discovery about the behavior of wild chacma baboons on South Africa’s Cape Peninsula. By using high-resolution GPS tracking, they found that these intelligent primates walk in lines not for safety or strategy, but simply to stay close to their friends.

For a long time, scientists believed that baboons structured their travel patterns, known as “progressions,” to reduce risk and optimize access to food and water. However, the new study published in Behavioral Ecology reveals that this behavior is actually driven by social bonds rather than survival strategies.

The researchers analyzed 78 travel progressions over 36 days and found that the order in which individual baboons traveled was not random. They tested four potential explanations for this phenomenon, including strategic positioning to avoid danger or gain access to resources. However, their findings show that the consistent order of baboon movement patterns is solely driven by social relationships.

According to Dr. Andrew King, Associate Professor at Swansea University, “The baboons’ consistent order isn’t about avoiding danger like we see in prey animals or for better access to food or water. Instead, it’s driven by who they’re socially bonded with. They simply move with their friends, and this produces a consistent order.”
This discovery introduces the concept of a “social spandrel.” In biology, a spandrel refers to a trait that arises not because it was directly selected for but as a side effect of something else. The researchers found that the consistent travel patterns among baboons emerge naturally from their social affiliations with each other and not as an evolved strategy for safety or success.

The study highlights the importance of strong social bonds in baboon society, which are linked to longer lives and greater reproductive success. However, this research also shows that these bonds can lead to unintended consequences, such as consistent travel patterns, which serve no specific purpose but rather as a by-product of those relationships. The findings have implications for our understanding of collective animal behavior and the potential for social spandrels in other species.

The urban parks of Barcelona, Spain, are home to a thriving colony of tropical monk parakeets. These vibrant green birds, native to South America, have adapted well to their new European environment. As they live in large groups, they communicate with each other using an array of distinct sounds – offering scientists a unique window into understanding the intricate relationships between individual social connections and vocal variety.

For animals that live in complex societies, communication is the key that unlocks the benefits of group living. From dolphins’ clicks and whistles to primates’ calls, it’s well-known that species with more intricate social lives tend to have more diverse ways of communicating. However, a recent study on wild parrots has drilled deeper into the social and vocal lives of individual birds.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior spent two years closely observing 337 monk parakeets in Spain, documenting their social lives and recording over 5,599 vocalizations – an astonishing number that provides a wealth of data for analysis. By examining these calls in terms of repertoire diversity (the variety of sounds a bird can make) and contact-call diversity (how unique this specific type of call is), the team was able to uncover some fascinating insights.

The study revealed that individual parakeets living in larger groups did indeed produce more variable repertoires of sounds. Interestingly, female parakeets had a more diverse repertoire than males – an unusual finding for birds. This suggests that females may be the more social sex, and their vocalizations reflect this.

Social network analysis showed that parakeets with more central positions in the social structure – those that were potentially more influential in the group – tended to have more diverse vocal repertoires. In other words, the most social individuals seemed to have a better vocabulary than less social individuals.

The researchers also found that close friends who allowed each other to approach within pecking distance sounded less like each other, as if they were trying to sound unique in their little gang. These findings offer clues about the evolution of complex communication, including human language.

As Simeon Smeele, the first author of the study, notes, “The next big step is to better understand what each of the sounds mean – a real mammoth task, since most of the social squawking happens in large groups with many individuals talking at the same time!” The study provides a crucial foundation for further research into the intricate relationships between communication and group living in animals.

Rewritten Article:

In a groundbreaking study, wild chimpanzees have been observed eating and sharing fruit that contains alcohol. Researchers from the University of Exeter set up motion-activated cameras in Guinea-Bissau’s Cantanhez National Park to capture footage of these fascinating creatures.

For the first time, scientists have confirmed that chimps are consuming fermented African breadfruit, which contains ethanol (alcohol). This raises intriguing questions about whether and why our closest relatives deliberately seek out alcohol.

In humans, drinking alcohol leads to a release of dopamine and endorphins, resulting in feelings of happiness and relaxation. Sharing alcohol through traditions like feasting helps form and strengthen social bonds. Could wild chimpanzees be getting similar benefits from eating fermented fruits?

The researchers used cameras to film chimps sharing fermented breadfruits on 10 separate occasions. The fruit was tested for alcohol content, with the highest level found being equivalent to 0.61% ABV (Alcohol By Volume). While this is relatively low, the scientists suggest it may be just the tip of the iceberg, as 60-85% of chimps’ diet consists of fruit, which could lead to significant consumption.

The researchers emphasize that chimps are unlikely to get “drunk,” as this would clearly not improve their survival chances. However, recent discoveries about a molecular adaptation that increased ethanol metabolism in the common ancestor of African apes suggest eating fermented fruits may have ancient origins in species including humans and chimps.

Dr Kimberley Hockings from the University of Exeter notes, “Chimps don’t share food all the time, so this behavior with fermented fruit might be important. We need to find out more about whether they deliberately seek out ethanolic fruits and how they metabolize it.” If so, it suggests the human tradition of feasting may have its origins deep in our evolutionary history.

Anna Bowland’s work was funded by the Primate Society of Great Britain, providing a fascinating glimpse into the behavior and biology of our closest relatives.